An Introduction to Political Philosophy

Abstract

Philosophy underpins political concepts, ideals and debates. The extent and nature of our rights, liberties and responsibilities, the role of the state and the best means of its governance are all questions to have been addressed by great philosophers throughout history - and questions students of political philosophy must engage with. An Introduction to Political Philosophy offers a thorough, lucid and stimulating account of the central theories and ideas encountered in political philosophy. The text is thematically structured, covering the discipline's principal ideologies: Statism; Realism; Liberalism; Conservatism; Socialism; Anarchism; and Environmentalism. It also offers a brief history of political philosophy and the major political philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Hobbes, Marx and Rawls, and, valuably, concludes with a look at 'applied' political philosophy, relating the discipline to contemporary political situations and questions. This fascinating book offers a critical overview of one of the central concepts in philosophy, encountered by virtually every student of the subject.